Sir Ken Robinson: Recalibrating Education for Creativity
Laura Varlas
Organic life crammed into linear education systems, creativity disconnected from intelligence (and vice versa), and indifference to the conditions that grow whole students: These, Sir Ken Robinson told his audience at ASCD’s 2009 Annual Conference Closing General Session, are some of the big problems that plague current attempts at education reform. "They’re why," Robinson said, “reforming education is not enough. It has to be totally transformed into something else. Children are thinking faster than the education we’re providing them.”
With regards to education reform, “Politicians talk about efficiency and cutting waste, competition, and getting back to basics. It’s the same language used when talking about bailing out the auto industry.” One of the problems with that kind of mind-set, said Robinson, is that “motor cars are indifferent to the conditions that produce them; human beings are not.”
He asked the audience to rate themselves on their levels of creativity and intelligence. “Why do we give ourselves different scores?” Because we have a limited conception of how creativity and intelligence complement each other and a limited appreciation for a diversity of creativities and intelligences, he answered. Understanding how these connect should be at the center of any education reform, Robinson advocated. He also dispelled myths that creativity is found only in “special” people and only has its outlet in the arts: “You can be creative in any field, any intelligence.”
Broadening our understanding of intelligence and creativity poses the opportunity for individuals to discover their talents, to be in their element, Robinson explained. His new book (The Element) discusses further why some people better tap into their strengths and how to create the conditions for everyone to do so. “We feel our authentic self when we are in our element—we have a sense of purpose.” Absent that, he added, “We spend a lot of energy trying to clean up the results of people living with no sense of purpose.” For example, he noted that next year, California will spend more on prisons than higher education.
Robinson, whose TED Talks presentation on whether schools kill creativity has been viewed by millions, entertained and enlightened the crowd by drawing on research, humor, and analogous current events and natural phenomena.
“Death Valley is not dead. It’s alive under the surface, waiting for the conditions for life to spring forth. Likewise, we need to create the right conditions for students to grow, and it’s not the manufacturing mode that dominates education.”
He closed with, “Every plant that grows looks like a miracle—it's a transformative process. It's the same with every child, but calling it a miracle makes it sound unusual, and it's not. If you're in education, miracles can be an everyday occurrence. All children have unusual ability.”